General Question

What's with Cialis advertising?

I just realized Cialis uses the image of a couple sitting in bathtubs in an outdoor setting in all their ads. What are they trying to convey? Who would haul a couple of bathtubs to the beach, the forest, the edge of a cliff for seating? Is sitting in separate tubs considered sexy? I know from personal experience that sex in a single tub is a bad idea. What am I not understanding?

True story: I’m having a conversation with my 14 year old son about what “sexy” is. He hears the word bantered around a lot and was wondering if sexy is a look, a feeling, an attitude – you get the picture. So after about 20 minutes of (what I thought) was good conversation he leaves the room and I feel pretty good about my parenting skills. My son renters the room, sits back down and say “there’s something I still don’t understand”...I brace myself…and then he says “what in the world is sexy about two people sitting in bathtubs, outside, looking over a mountain?” “If the man is taking medicine so that he can have sex, why are they outside in bathtubs, I just don’t get it?”

@galileogirl: Absolutely wonderful question. I’ve been wondering that ever since the first time I saw those commercials. I even brought it up in a marketing class. The answer was “you’re a 20ish woman with a lot going on for you, not a 50ish man with ED. It’s not supposed to appeal to you.” which is total BS. No one gets those commercials. I get that they wanted to be suggestive without being overly sexual, but it failed. It failed.

@La_chica_gomela Of course you were right! I know lots of 50+ guys who don’t have the backs for fantasy sex positions. With or without ED they prefer a semi-firm pillowtop mattresses… and their women with a similar description.

Cialis is conveying that you can take time to enjoy the tender moments because you don’t have to rush to get the erection before the drug wears off. The bathtubs are apparently doing just what they intended which is make the commercial stick out in your mind (no pun intended). Notice that their commercials even w/out the tub include couples having fun together to suggest that by fixing the physical issues with ED the emotional problems that manifest in the relationship improve as well.

The bathtub imagery is laughable. It suggests that sex is dirty & each partner must bathe before enjoying the “sunset.” My husband & I laugh & roll our eyes each time we see it. We’ve been married 42 years & don’t use separate tubs outdoors afterward. What idiotic ad agency dreamed up this campaign?